This EPIC mecha fight is not something you see in today’s anime | Dancouga (1985)

[@RetroCrush]

Watch "Dancouga: Super Beast Machine God" on our app: bit.ly/3HwfXsD Start your free 14-day trial here: retrocrush.tv/upgrade

[@zephyrr108]

wheres the Saint Seyia clips?

[@elonmartin5065]

Especially with the wick theme song when the interlock

[@nofuxgivens2797]

Caught her ass lackin

[@stevenkranowski5141]

Well, I searched your website, and alas, that series is gone now. Boo hiss.

[@Jake6Ohara]

Wow voltron lol

[@Gunsight-One]

80's anime rules. That level of hand drawn detail just doesn't get done like this anymore.

[@TheOptinater]

Was gonna say basically the same thing. Mecha anime today is amazing, but seeing hand drawn transformation sequences is something else.

[@AlteraLin]

This was made in the 80s, when the Japanese economy was dominating. It was also when TV shows were made to sell toys, so there was a lot of investment. Japan's economy has been stagnant for a long time now, so I don't think they can afford this sort of thing anymore. Besides the interest in mecha anime has been on the decline since the 90s, and they just don't sell toys like they used to. It's all about the waifus these days. The only big Mecha franchise left is Gundam.

[@lionheartt15]

@@AlteraLin I'd say more that the lack of interest was because less mecha anime were being produced because of the cost. less product means less interest which creates a self sustaining loop. about the only mecha anime you see anymore are ones like gundam which have become so imbedded in pop culture that you couldn't ever dream of them not being there

[@Conan_the_Based]

@@lionheartt15 You said it. The companies of today just do a cost-benefit analysis and decide that marketing waifu schlock to arrested development adult-children with disposal income from their wage cage jobs is more profitable than engineering awesome mechanical toys and animating visually stunning shows to go with them, just to appeal to boys who have to beg their parents for money.

[@lionheartt15]

@@Conan_the_Based the problem is it works they dribble out low effort low cost stuff have some hot waifu/husbando character in it so bland a cheesecake has more personality than them. why I like manga and webnovels better anymore they are where the effort is going. few anime have true characters anymore

[@davidbryan1256]

This is one of the great classic shows that existed at the time Golion/Dairugger (Voltron) began. It's amazing how it started in the late 70's to early 80's when animals/ robots transform into super robots to become defenders of the universe.

[@OmegaEnvych]

Imagine Dancouga being adapted to like, 3rd Voltron. Would be quite weird.

[@evanlindsey1100]

This came out a few years after Golion and Dairugger.

[@OmegaEnvych]

@@evanlindsey1100 by about 2-3 years from them, yeah. Still, kinda sad it didn't get any release/adaptation in the west

[@evanlindsey1100]

@@OmegaEnvych Dancougar was released on videocassette in the mid-90s. I don't know if the whole series was released or not, but I do know that they at least got to the first appearance of the actual Dancougar robot.

[@OmegaEnvych]

@@evanlindsey1100 I see. Too bad it was never shown on TV because where I live VHS copies were appearing at random - like Street Fighter 2 animated movie, Space Adventure Cobra and Dominion Tank Police could stand on same shelf as Dumb and Dumber cartoon for example.

[@kri249]

God I love 80s anime. The style is something my heart has a fondness for. Even the music of the time was awesome. As an 80s kid this was my childhood.

[@dimmerslag5305]

Dancouga used killer standing pose to fight an enemy mecha, survive a cannon blast and rekt lady enemy without ever bending its elbow in 90 degrees. Glorious

[@thefez-cat]

Seriously this fight looks like super-detailed action figures "fighting" by being swung at each other by a kid. It's a level of ridiculousness that swings back around to being kinda awesome.

[@kingtonsiljockey528]

...OH man, didnt they reference this in Megas XLR? 😂 I swear, my brain just spiked to Megas

[@waik.7040]

@@thefez-cat You get the point, toy industry was so intensively bonded with animes by then, kids did play with figures in those killer poses 😂

[@n1ghtmar3w0lf3]

the most epic t pose ever, blasted by a cannon ,waste the guy your fighting and the scheming harpy as you go into parts unknown to kick the ass of a tyrannical emperor, gotta love these animes , very impressive art and cool stories

[@al-919]

The series marks the debut of animator and artist Masami Ōbari, who would later become one of the most prolific mecha designers in the anime industry.

[@hieioni3354]

Ah, mecha anime. They are rare these days.

[@Germania9]

Yeah, these days are anime is bloated with isekai about gamers wanting to be OP in another world.

[@VoltronKnight]

There’s always Gundam.

[@hieioni3354]

@@Germania9 yep. A shame cyberpunk and mecha anime die off.

[@hieioni3354]

@@VoltronKnight agreed. The last bastion of sci-fi anime.

[@619AGT]

@@VoltronKnight Yeah, but what else is there besides Gundam these days?

[@vashstampede5933]

Oh man, so many flashbacks to Voltron and Mighty Orbots, love these old school combiner mecha battles! Thanks for sharing this! 😎👍

[@gregoryvn3]

Orbots Assemble!

[@manplusguitar]

I bet my life its either the same animation studio or the effects animator that did the Thundercats intro. Because those beams of light and energy bouncing around the screen is virtually the same!

[@toddkornick]

This is why I love KZbin! Discovering Dancouga over my morning coffee. Thank you.

[@ChaosWolfNinja]

What always amazed me the most is how super talented the animators were. To draw these shapes consistantly every frame is just pure amazing! I do miss seeing this style. It always brought another level of life to the mecha.

[@DehnusNorder]

I always loved the lighting and glow effects in old Japanese Sci Fi and Space opera animations :). It really pops :) .

[@vincentcloud]

80's anime, and especially mecha, was always on point(Macross, Gunbuster, Orginal Gundams). Now they have add so many mechs to sell model kits.

[@ramslucas5140]

Cyber City OEDO 808 has outstanding mechanical illustrations

[@vectorprime4387]

I hope Discotek releases the OVAs for this show at some point. The show itself was great, but you basically need the first OVA to get the ending since the series itself ended on a cliffhanger. Not to mention "God Bless Dancouga" is straight up awesome.

[@CptJistuce]

It still hurts that we got Blazing Epilogue in the Discotek set and not God Bless.

[@InfinityZwei]

@@CptJistuce There was a Western Connection VHS release in the UK, which I believe is fairly easy to get a digital copy of. I had discussed purchasing one of the original tapes from another collector at one point; he respectfully declined but we also had a conversation where he explained that Western Connection tapes were not printed at good quality, so the combination of scarcity and wear-and-tear will likely make finding a physical copy impossible. Granted, I'm sure what folks really want is a physical HD release -- I should know, I'm one of them. :) That said, Western Connection also released Le Deus, which is a really fun one-shot mecha OVA which you can also find on the internet and is virtually unheard of in the US.

[@diogoalmeida9200]

Man, everything in Dancouga is so EPIC!

[@plaztik767]

Giant Robots,operated by highly skilled pilots, engaged in epic battles is timeless..

[@carnut015]

This brings me back to watching tapes my older brothers would borrow from their friends. You just do not get animated fights like this, anymore.

[@extraleague01]

This show is known as a mecha series that mixes elements of super robot genre(ex: Voltron) with elements of real robot genre(ex: Gundam). Fun fact: The Tactics 15 scene in One Piece ep 367 is a funny homage/parody of Dancouga docking, as Dancouga main character Shinobu's voice actor also voices Franky in One Piece, and Franky even says Shinobu's catchphrase "Yatte yaruze"(Let's do it) in the Tactics 15 scene. 😂

[@hangoverdrive5660]

It's why I hate it in SRW before cause it had a mobility of a super robot and a durability of a real robot

[@artposting1012]

@@hangoverdrive5660 Nothing wrong with that.

[@SantomPh]

@@hangoverdrive5660 Iron Wall is your friend

[@SantomPh]

Kazuki Yao also voices Judau Ashta from ZZ Gundam, which also had "docking" animation.

[@MercenaryX21]

That little bit with the cross made me smile.

[@yesterdaysjam2405]

That soundtrack is so good during the transformation/combining sequence.

[@STEVSGONE]

Yeah it is!

[@TOUGHNERDTOYS]

The artwork animation,detail and epic posing are a talent long lost in most anime. I miss anime as such.

[@nilesbrook4216]

This is gorgeous!! Thank you for posting. Traditional animation is such a lost art! Bow this would all be CGI or “computer assisted” and would look stale & devoid of life. The skill and craftsmanship of these animators is inspiring!!

[@danielhaire6677]

Modern Anime: We will defeat the enemy with Love and Friendship. Old Anime: We will destroy the enemy with the biggest gun we have aided by the extreme sacrifice of heroes!!

[@temoharri8848]

I have NEVER seen or heard of this show and this tid bit here just made me a fan. 😊

[@martypedigo8185]

I grew up watching Voltron and War of the Planets. Great anime is always worth watching again and again.

[@sumotacular3681]

This is peak Super Robot Trope Bingo material right here. Enjoyed it far more than I should.

[@apem2kilo879]

When I played Super Robot Wars Z2 back in the days, I used to convince the enemies that Dancouga Max God is just an opening act and sh1t just got real when Shinobu and Final Dancouga start to go "YATTE YARU ZE!!!"

[@Scruffi]

Oh man. I had this movie on VHS back in the ‘80s, and wore it out rewatching. YATTE YARUZE!!

[@coblamoration1102]

I can't even watch this without instinctively reaching for a copy of Super Robot Wars to start playing

[@SantomPh]

spam Flash and Iron Wall 🤖

[@hermanjames7202]

On what system?

[@s14tam]

Looks amazing still! If you told me this was made this year, I could believe it. Actually, looks better than some stuff produced today.

[@CommanderBohn]

Good thing Dancouga appeared in SRW 30.

[@TonyBMan]

I love how that evil lady got rekt like a bug on a windshield.

[@KyleStroudVA]

He's trying to hypnotize us again! Let's all stare directly into the hypno eye to help him succeed!

[@Renserin]

Here's a fun fact. Unlike just about every other super robot anime, the five pilots of Dancouga only figured out how to form the Big Guy in the last few episodes. They used the individual beast/robot vehicles for most of the series.

[@000Krim]

That's actually better

[@razorburn7745]

Main Pilot: “What’s this button do?” Button: ((Merge into bigger robot))

[@kamenatlanta5661]

1) There were FOUR pilots, as Dancouga is made of four Juusenki 2) The combining ability was discovered in episode 16, not in the final episodes of the show.

[@Renserin]

@@kamenatlanta5661 Thanks for the correction, I don't know the series that well, so what little I do know is 2nd or 3rd hand.

[@InfinityZwei]

@@Renserin You may have been thinking of Final Dancouga from Super Robot Wars 3, which features an alternate timeline where Alan survives and his Black Wing mecha becomes Dancouga's backpack. It's not canon, however, and the Black Wing lacks the Aggressive System that the other Juusenki possess.

[@jaysato]

dancouga, L-gaim, mospeada are my holy trinity of underrated robot mecha anime. megazone 23 is also up there too.

[@donwon-orig7520]

As a kid coming up we couldn't wait to get home and watch these...mine started with Robotech

[@Iskelderon]

The "...I could care less..."in the subs was just the icing on the cake, highlighting that era's sub writers who usually ended up with that job because 7-Eleven wasn't hiring that week! 🤣

[@hockey1973]

80's kid here. My dad was military and we were stationed overseas in Japan from 83-85 and I remember waking up every Saturday morning at 6:00 am to watch this show even though I couldn't understand a word that was said 😀

[@Blakk_Wolf7]

This its the reason why I feel in love w/anime as a kid in the '80's Reminds me of Robotech

[@MrANTICRAZY]

When I saw Majestic Prince with a friend I told them it reminded of this anime. They had no idea what I was talking about.

[@brooklynkeith2877]

My goodness its a voltron combined with unicron, & all with robotech mecha my entire childhood i love being a 80s baby cartoons especially on sundays were the best

[@dannytarver4533]

Beautiful, I loved growing up in the 80's.

[@mcmarkmarkson7115]

"He's trying to hypnotise us again!" "Whats going on??" XD

[@Xaiyou]

Legend Has it that Dancouga is still flying through hyperspace to this day.

[@nikytamayo]

Ah. 80's mecha anime. Where they blew the entire budget on transformation sequences drawn with CAD-like detail (often used multiple episodes in a row), leaving nothing but flapping mouths, spinning/shaking cels and light flares for the rest of the episode. That said, even CGI-assisted mecha shows of the 21st century reuse a lot of highly-polished rendered stock sequences to save money (I'm looking at you, Macross Frontier...)

[@stelonous]

There was an art to old anime that has been forever lost. I miss the old-school stuff.

[@alonsoalejandroperaza3722]

1980's Cartoons Rock ... "I Am So Happy ...'I Was One Of Them Kids ...In The 1980'S

[@austinmorrison6953]

They don’t make ‘em like they used to

[@artposting1012]

Yeah, it's a bit better now. Less people being paid less wages.

[@jeyfomson6364]

Agreed !!

[@radeesfury827]

You always give us fantastic videos, thanks dude

[@thefez-cat]

0:40 "And I'll form... THE HAT!" Seriously though like 75% of this almost nine minute clip, Dancouga isn't even moving.

[@sdjslkdjlsskldjslkdjsl8262]

you can see how hard it is to animate this stuff at around 5:20. No wonder they switched to CG when they could--but that was the death knell for the genre, because let's be honest, nobody wants to see CG giant robots

[@bmpixy]

it was the japanese economic bubble popping in '91 that really killed this style of anime. everybody went broke, so they didn't have absurd amounts of money to pour into shows like this, nor could they rely on the public making up for the budgets with toy sales, because once the bubble popped only otaku bought that sort of stuff. hence why you see a shift to more simplified styles, less detail, and fewer big action scenes, as well as pandering to those otaku so that they would buy 12 grand of collectables and keep the studio afloat.

[@StrikeNoir105E]

"Nobody wants to see CG Giant Robots" Nope. Nobody wants to see *BAD* CG Giant Robots. When done right though, CG mecha can and does look absolutely fantastic without the issues of hand-drawn animation getting in the way, like say Pacific Rim, Dynazenon, or Macross Frontier. As with everything else, the effort put in is more important than the medium it's done in. Bad hand-drawn looks just as bad as Bad CG, and Good CG looks just a good as Good hand-drawn. I mean, from an animation standpoint, the clip of Dancouga shown here isn't that impressive due to all the shortcuts used.

[@ironconvoy3831]

Depends, you could get something good like mazinger z infinity. Or you get not so good something like transformers superlink or getter robo arc...

[@artposting1012]

@@ironconvoy3831 Have you even watched gundam? They've been doing it for years now, it only looks very old fashioned because, yes you can make 3d models look like 2d ones.

[@ironconvoy3831]

@@artposting1012 Like the Hathaway movie?

[@Scotty-Z70]

i love the shiny shading of cell drawn animation. none of this modern CGI will ever compare.

[@JanHell666]

Solid! And the God bless OVA is my top pic in the franchise though.

[@kittentacticalwarfare1140]

The animation is less complex than some top tier modern day animation, but it's so damn good. Also I can see where Takara-Tomy got inspired for Victory Saber.

[@ngcastronerd4791]

I had this guy as a toy when a kid. Man I loved that thing.

[@artposting1012]

Most of people over here in the comments section, who complains at modern animations in anime, don't really even tried to work at an animation studio or even tried to animate it themselves. Or don't even understand that there's a lot of going on before you even start an animation. These people don't even understand the difference of theme and genre. Dancouga is a dark themed sci-fi mecha anime. Comparing it to a different themed mecha anime would so ridiculous and would make themselves feel good with their ego that its funny even if its wrongfully done. It's like comparing different flavors of the same ice cream brand, yeah a waste of time. Also, there are a lot of styles in animating a panel as well, not just one.

[@hieioni3354]

1:36 It means she still cares.

[@rickylovesyou]

Stardust Memory. Nuff said.

[@mrbeggar76]

Everyone here talking about the amazing animation but not the most important detail. Habara was only 22 years old and Obari was just 19 when working on Dancougar. 😏

[@etanneriii]

Dancouga is a masterpiece of the super robot categorie

[@edgarortiz5950]

i first learned of this mecha playing a Super Robot Wars game. the Alpha to be more precise. and that game has a little computer animated secuence wiht somne classic mechas. Mazinger, GunBuster, Rayden, Getter Robot, Dancouga and some SRW originals like SRX.

[@mechanomics2649]

Gundam is also included here.

[@edgarortiz5950]

@@mechanomics2649 is not a SRW game without a gundam.

[@mrf19741]

I still have the first twelve episodes of this on VHS tapes 📼!

[@ultris07]

Listen, anime from the 60's to early 90's was on another plane of existence.

[@rustyheckler8766]

Earth government Rep, "Ummm doctor, your genius is not in question here, it's just we want to know why the spaceship has to transform into a dragon considering it be 100 trillion cheaper without such modifications." Doctor, "Because it looks cool, you jacka$$!"

[@anarekist]

those glowing lights color adjusted to a high nit hdr screen would be amazeballs

[@Mundane05]

0:40 I've seen helmets go over heads in mechas, but I've never seen heads go over heads

[@Koenshakuable]

"I only want the strongest man, and his power"... I swear I thought I was watching another fresh and fit ep... That shreik when one Eye's blastin' em was runner up for the Willhelm scream I bet.

[@neovoltron25]

One of my inspirations for my original super robot fanfic

[@Velshard]

The love child of megatron and a megazord...

[@jimmyju76]

damn just love that 80s sound

[@billcox8870]

I love old school anime like vampire Hunter D, fist of the North Star as well as the original three seasons of Star Blazers AKA space battleship Yamato.

[@TitoGWolf]

I grew up more with Dancouga Nova but this fight was worthy of the term epic.

[@shauqiharris2772]

Nova is just Gravion without the maids.

[@TitoGWolf]

@@shauqiharris2772 maybe but i love it nonetheless.

[@CptJistuce]

I would like Nova a lot more if it hadn't been sold as Dancouga, honestly. I came in with expectations, and came out feeling backstabbed.

[@TitoGWolf]

@@CptJistuce still love the anime and Aoi was my first waifu.

[@CptJistuce]

@@TitoGWolf That's fair. It isn't a bad show on its own merits, by any stretch.

[@EricLinstone]

No matter how evil the bad guy is, he's always willing to wait for them to form their mecha. Bad guys these days don't have that level of honor. 😁

[@joshflugel]

The release of Gundam Witch of Mercury and the Code Geass movie mark the first time I quit the mecha genre, I´m finally too old to identify with current shows. This one looks awesome.

[@wackyswacky1374]

I was watching this and thought the animation style looked just like the Vampire Hunter D movie. Turns out it was done by the same studio, Ashi Productions.

[@TOUGHNERDTOYS]

I use your app daily and love it

[@skylinefever]

I have always loved the look and sound of 70s and 80s mecha. I was thinking about something. My mom had a 1985 Nissan Maxima, and it had a very fancy interior for the time. Could my love of that look have been inspired by that car? I loved that car very much, and it made me want to visit Japan at an early age. The 1985 Nissan Maxima shared many interior styling bits with the 1984 Nissan 300ZX AKA Z31 Fairlady.

[@Norrikan]

Dancouga is a strange beast. The pacing isn't all that great, the story is kinda wacky, the quality swings around wildly and a host of other weird things. But ever so often they casually drop an absolutely incredible fight or a fantastic scene and you go: _Yep, that's a 10 outta 10 from me._

[@markbell1089]

This anime is legendary!!!! Dancouga, "Let's Do It!" (Japanese Dialog)

[@Thedesertguy75]

Hand drawn retro animation will always be better for me. So much more feel.

[@godslayer1415]

It is not retro. Retro would be something made today that looks like 40 years ago. You can call it vintage, but not retro.

[@0datdude0]

Mid to late 80's animated mecha was my first love.

[@Apillis124]

As a lover Dancouga and Go Bots back in the day who grew up to be a Graphic Artist by trade/career. Lets remove the nostalgia glasses for a moment. If you're talking about that it's clearly hand drawn? Sure, it's amazing the amount of diligence they had to put in back in the day for simple animations. Highly detailed? Ehhh... depends on which mecha anime, but the latest Gundam series? Sorry, this really shows its age when compared it by leaps and bounds, and that should be very much expected. And that's not a knock against it. If you're talking about the action in the fight? Come on, man, in the 80s--sure--but it's pretty standard fair for any mecha or shounen jump throughout the 90s well into the 2010s and even to this day for the super low budget animes (and even some of them surpass it), It's great to appreciate the incredible work that had to be done to produce something like this back in the day, but there's a threshold where it's like... come on, man... don't be that guy.

[@stevethefishdotnet]

I own this series on LaserDisc! I figure that if I ever had to go into the witness relocation program, I'd change my name to Dan Cougar.

[@darkhadou7017]

Macross, mazinger are my all time faves

[@jonjojr]

Robotech of the 80s, could not get enough.

[@ДмитрийСмирнов-ъ9ж]

Анимация,саунд,ракурс слияния....Гештальт...Вот это мощь!!! Это заставляло биться наши детские сердца,хотелось мечтать и фантазировать!!! Меха!!! Экранизировать бы сейчас это дело,особенно аниме.Технологии позволяют,но надо именно со старыми мастерами работать,получится шедеврально,я думаю.От манги и аниме до аниматроники спецэффектов.Наработки есть но мало.Тихоокеанский рубеж 1- прорыв... Еще надо.Мыл бы я охрененно богат- сам бы замутил темы.Гайвер,Наруто,Роботек,Мононоке....Нужен дерзкий режиссер,финансирование,фанбаза,саунд и душа!

[@Toastcat890]

80s to early 2000s were the best time for anime gorgeous animation interesting stories and a wide variety of genres to choose from. Now it's all CGI and shounen action or isekai with little else being made into an anime.

[@mechanomics2649]

Gundam Unicorn is living proof that you're wrong.

[@kaihedgie1747]

"Now it's all CGI and shonen action" Is this a troll post?

[@PoppaCYS]

Dancouga seems cooler than Voltron which was also good. He has a Predaking vibe.

[@Sliferzero]

That Fucking Classic my friends. That Great Times. Thanks.

[@neosilly1]

BGM is So Wonderful!!!

[@SuperDuperToast]

Masato’s got the power of God and anime on his side.

[@no_number]

Every mecha in animes that you see today is made using 3d softwares, what make the animation looks "odd". But this! This is the real deal, the good old hand drawing that makes the animation fluid and beautiful.

[@1COMIXMAN]

I remember watching this as a kid.

[@mothafraker]

Takes me waaay back

[@kangthao5121]

Legend has it, they are still flying in hyperspace to this day.

[@justmustard56]

The first minute and a half is just the transformation sequence, jesus, how do i enjoyed it?

[@_JESUS_REIGNS_]

Um this is a good retro anime... but as far as the title goes.... "GUNDAM" meets or excedes these type of mech-battles... Gundam Unicorn. Is pretty crazy for a "newer mech" even Gundam Thunderbolt... or Even Gundam Build Fighters Has extremely good fight choreography.... 💖🙏😇

[@MysteriousMose]

Wow, never thought I'd see an anime character get inspired by his crucifix.